Together, Logan Washington and his mother have found success at St. Mary’s Academy in New Orleans.

Logan is a rambunctious second grader who loves to draw and play basketball. Logan’s mother, Theresa Barnhizer, teaches kindergarten and first grade at St. Mary’s Academy. She said the Louisiana Scholarship Program made it possible for Logan to attend school where she teaches.

“I like the fact that he is able to come here, to have him close by me,” said Barnhizer. “I didn’t want to send him to a public school here in the city—just put my child on a bus and send him somewhere that I didn’t know much about.”

St. Mary’s Academy principal Darlene Hutchinson said it’s important that students like Logan are able to enroll beginning in kindergarten. “Instead of experiencing the negatives associated with a failing school, Logan had the opportunity to grow from very young.”

Landon Washington describes St. Mary’s Academy as the perfect setting for his son.

“The Louisiana Scholarship Program enabled us to choose where we want to send our child and that was very helpful in our decision-making process,” said Washington. “This is not about politics. This is about taking care of each child each day.”

The Louisiana Federation for Children is a project of the American Federation for Children and the AFC Growth Fund, dedicated to promoting, protecting, and expanding private school choice and opportunity scholarship programs.

Copyright 2018, Louisiana Federation for Children

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